Boot or shoe and shank stiffener therefor



April I, 1930. I H. BEE 1,752,775

BOOT OR SHOE AND SHANK STIFFENER THEREFOR Filed June 6, 1929 35 a sharp,square upper edge. Due to the spoon 40 the foot, is placed on the shoe,this sharp edge will bite into the said under surface of the PatentedApr. 1, 1930 PATENT OFFICE;

nnnnnnrrnn, onimncnnsrnn, mw museums, nssreivon TO woomatmY' SHOE no.00., or DERBY, NEW HAMPSHIREQVA coarormrronor nnw HAMPSHIRE,

ZBQOT OR snon AND sHAnK fs rirrnnna' rannnron Application filed June 6,

tion is the provision of a boot or shoe which will have incorporatedtherein a longitudinal arch supporter.

V Another object of the invention resides in the provision of anautomatically locked arch,

in said shoe, due entirely to the novel struci.

line 22 of Fig. 1';'

ture of the arch supporter or shank stiffener utilized in said shoe.

An important result of this locked arch is that the supporter, when theweight of the wearer is placed thereon, will be brought toward the foot,instead of bending back or away from the foot thus assuring a constantarch supporting function. This feature is extremely important, as whenthe supporter v is allowed to yield or bend back, it does not permit orprovide full. arch supporting ca-' pacity.

.25 Another object of the invention resides in the particularconstruction of arch supporter 'sole 2 in usual manner. I

utilized. The body of this arch supporter is of the well known cottageshank type, with the important exception of the forward end .30 thereofwhich is under the ball of the foot.

This forward end of the supporter is spooned,

longitudinally but not laterally, the extreme forward end of said spoonbeingbeveled on its under surface, in such manner as to leave shape ofthe ball end 0 the supporter, this sharp edge will be in constantengagement with the under surface of the insole. When the weight of thewearer or the pressureof insole, automatically lockingthe arch supporterin'posit-ion, the rearward end of said supporter being provided withprongs or. other suitable holding means, which are driven into theinsole at the heel portion.

; and outsole;

1929. Serial No. 365,797.

which same is incorporated, are'novel, I have claimed the same in thepresent. application. The above and other objects of the inventiondetails of construction, and'advantages, will be hereinafter more fullypointed out,

described and claimed.- V

Referring to the drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of theinvention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a'ladys pump, partially in section, withmy novel archv supporter in position;

, Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionalelevation on the Fig. 3 is .afragmentarylongitudinal sectional View, on an enlarged scale,illustrating theforward end of the shank stiffener, and its position inthe shoe relative to the insole Fig. tisfa top pla'nview of thearchsupporter; and' if i Fig. 5 is a side elevation of saidarchsupporter.

Referringnow to the drawingsfora particular description of thefinve'ntion, its con struction'and assembly, 1 designa testhe uppermaterials of a 'shoe, assembled "on an in illustratedin thepres'entapplication is of the well-known'McKay type, and subsequent tothe ,arch supporter attaching operation,

the outsole 5 is laid, temporarily secured to r the insole, and: then"permanently atta'ched thereto by through and'throu'gh stitching,whereupon the heel 6 is attached: The out sole may be temporarilyattached at the forward end before installation or incorporation of thearch supporter, if desired;

- The shank stiffener illustrated hasa curved body portion!constructedsimilar to the well known cottage shank supporter, theforward end 8 of this supporter being spooned or P curvedinia directionreverse to the curve of thebodyfljso that the general longitudinalcontour of the supporter is that of a reverse curve. The extreme forwardend of the supporter is squared, the under surface of this forward endbeing chamfered or beveled as illustratedat 9, leaving a sharp forwardupper edge 10. When positioned in the shoe, between the insole 2 andoutsole 5, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the spoon end 8 brings thesharp edge 10 into contact with the under.

surface of the insole 2 at the ball ofthe foot. y

Thus when the weightof the wearer is placed in a shoe, this will causesaid edge -10 to bite into the under surface of the insole, locking thesupporter in position between the prongs 4 and the point at which theedge 10 of the supporter has bitten into the insole.'

The bi' ing' of the edge 10 intothe insole 2 will never be suflicienttopenetrate through the insole, and thus cannot possibly injure the footof the wearer. In prior shoes of this type, wherein the forward endoffthe shankstiffener was loose, and free to slide on action of the footduring walking, the shank stiffener would bend back away from J the archof the foot, and would thus not have a. constant arch supportingcapacity. In shoes where the forward end of the arch supporter has beenfixed in position, the expense ofinanufacturing such shoes has beenincreased due to the additional operation or I operations necessary toattach said forward end, and the attaching instrumentalities havefrequently pene'trated the insole, resulting in injury to the wearer,damage to stockings, and

- other disadvantages.

By my present invention, eliminating separate attaching elements fortheforward end of the arch supporter I am enabled to more cheaply produce ashoe having a metallic arch supporter incorporated therein, while at thesame time assuring the wearer of an automatically or selflocked arch,and constant arch support.

"1e I have. necessarily described my present invention somewhat indetail, it will beappreciated that the showing of; a McKay shoe is forillustrative purposes only, and that I may vary the size, shape, style,type and arrangement of parts within reasonably wide limits witho'utdepartingfrom the spirit of.

the invention. 4 n

My nvention is further described and defined in the form of claimsasfollows:

In a boot of shoe, an insole, an outso'le,

a metalliczarch supporterpositioned between n saldlnsole and outsole,sa1d supporter being fixed to said shoe at its rear end; only, theforward end of said,supporter'beingupward- 1y curved, andlhaving itsextreme forward end beveled on the under side, thus forming a sharpdgeon theforward end of the supporter, whereby, on pressure 6f the footbeing appliedtosaid shoe, said l afliedge will bite mtotheunde'r surfaceof the insole, and autoy 7 ifiaticall' leek the supporter in position.

